Cognitive:Students will recognize that there are two sides to human nature: good and bad. Students will be more aware of the fact that the more they “feed” or encourage the good or the bad side, the stronger it will become. Students will understand the causal relationship between interacting with media that depict violence and real life conflict.
Affective:Students will want to “feed” their better side through cultivating positive thoughts and feelings, doing good deeds, serving others, putting others ahead of the self, and controlling the media influences they allow into their minds.
Behavioral:Students will describe and discuss ways to avoid fanning the flames of conflict and resentment. Students will imagine and describe themselves interacting with the world without their “shadow” side. Students will identify and list “shadow” characteristics they would like to change into something “bright.” Students will chart their progress.
Class Session 1
Ask students if they have ever felt a conflict within themselves. For instance, ask them to imagine seeing an elderly lady struggling to get her groceries into her home. Most people would feel they should help the old lady. At the same time, a lot of thoughts might come into their minds that would stop them from helping her—thoughts like, “Oh, she's nearly finished now,” or “She would probably rather do it herself,” or “That would take too much of my time,” or “I'm tired today—I don't want to strain myself.” Ask students, “When we think those kinds of thoughts, whom are we thinking of?” Affirm that we are thinking of ourselves.
Say that self-centered thinking may lead people to avoid doing a good deed, and it may also lead to justifying misdeeds, such as crimes: “I need this money more than the store owner does, so I'll take it. He'll never miss it” is one example. “She dressed that way, so she wanted me to kiss her” is another example. “He yelled at me, so I had a right to put a scratch on his car.” Point out that such thinking does not take into account the feelings and rights of others. It puts the self at the center of everything.
Mention that this conflict between being self-centered and being considerate of others is a very strong one. Say that it takes place inside each individual, inside each family, community, and nation. It is not easy to act so as to benefit others rather than the self.
Emphasize that when we do act for the benefit of others rather than ourselves, we experience joy, and everything goes better. Point out that it is well worth the sacrifice, although it may not seem so in the moment.
Point out that the chapter emphasizes strengthening our unselfish selves with good thoughts and influences. Ask students to give examples from the chapter about what to do and what not to do to strengthen our unselfish selves.
Mention that “feeding” the selfish or the unselfish side of our natures is shown strongly in the story “Two Wolves—A Native American Story about the Power of Thought.” Ask students to reread this story in their student texts:
Two Wolves--a Native American Story about the Power of Thought
An old grandfather, whose grandson came to him with anger at a schoolmate who had done him an injustice, said, “Let me tell you a story, Grandson. I, too, at times, have felt a great hate for those who have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die of it. I have struggled with these feelings many times.”
He continued, “It is as if there are two wolves inside me. One is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will fight only when it is right to do so, and in the right way.
But the other wolf is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit.”
The boy looked intently into his Grandfather's eyes and asked, “Which one wins, Grandfather?”
The grandfather solemnly replied, “The one I feed.”
Ask students to remember a recent conflict in their lives. Did feeding the “bad wolf” with negative, hate-filled, resentful thoughts keep the conflict going? Does keeping a mental list of all the bad things the other person has done feed the bad wolf or the good wolf? Ask students for suggestions as to how to feed the good wolf when they are in conflict with someone.
Write on the board: “Hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die of it.”
Ask students to discuss and debate this question: “Does hating someone hurt the other person? Does it hurt you more?”
Ask students to reread “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” in their students books. Mention that this is a very imaginative literary representation of what we all feel inside: that we have a good nature and a bad nature—”Me and My Shadow”—and that they are opposed to one another.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Robert Louis Stevenson's famous story Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tells vividly of inner conflict, or as Stevenson puts it: “the perennial war” between the good and evil selves.
Gentle Dr. Jekyll, a doctor, scientist, and humanitarian, struggles with sins he does not name, sometimes indulging himself in them. He begins to notice in himself two different natures, both of which are a strong part of him: “I was no more myself when I laid aside restraint and plunged in shame, than when I labored in the eye of day, at the furtherance of knowledge or the relief of sorrow and suffering.” Both sinner and saint are inside him, part of him. He concludes that “man is not one, but truly two” and devises in his laboratory a potion that at last will separate the evil nature within him from the good. The evil side comes out in the form of a man he names Mr. Hyde.
When Dr. Jekyll first is taken over by Mr. Hyde's personality, he says, “I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; and the thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me like wine.”
Although he inhabits Dr. Jekyll's body, Hyde does not physically resemble the good doctor. Rather, “evil was written broadly and plainly on the face…Evil besides (which I still believe to be the lethal side of man) had left on that body an imprint of deformity and decay.”
“I had now two characters as well as two appearances,” wrote Jekyll. “One was wholly evil…inherently malign and villainous; his every act and thought centered on self; drinking pleasure…from any degree of torture to another; relentless like a man of stone.” Hyde is all the evil concentrated in Dr. Jekyll's soul expressed fully for the first time.
Dr. Jekyll labors by day to make scientific discoveries that will help humanity; he treats patients; he even works to undo any evil Hyde has done in the night. His goodness and service to others comfort him, but he begins to notice something. The more he is let out to do whatever he wants, the more powerful Hyde is becoming inside him. He begins “to spy a danger that, if this were much prolonged, the balance of my nature might be permanently overthrown…and the character of Edward Hyde become irrevocably mine. Where in the beginning, the difficulty had been to throw off the body of Jekyll, it had of late gradually but decidedly transferred itself to the other side. All things therefore seemed to point to this: that I was slowly losing hold of my original and better self and becoming slowly incorporated with my second and worse.”
Jekyll decides to take the potion no more, and he enjoys a period of peace and joy with his conscience approving of him once again. But after a time, “I began to be tortured with throes and longings, as Hyde struggled after freedom.” At last, in a moment of weakness, he gives in and drinks the potion again. Hyde is none the weaker for being kept inside so long. “My devil had long been caged, he came out roaring.”
This time Hyde commits a brutal murder. Jekyll is firmer in his resolve never to take the potion again. However, he does indulge himself in some sinning, similar to what he had done before he began drinking the potion. Now this alone is enough to transform him into Hyde. At last, knowing that murderous Hyde, his most evil self, has won the battle and is now the stronger of the two, Jekyll commits suicide to end Hyde's crimes.
Now ask the students to imagine that they have Dr. Jekyll's potion, only that it has the power to bring out their good side alone. Ask them to think about how they would act, addressing real situations of conflict in their lives, once they have drunk this “good nature” potion. Encourage them to try to act that way.
Class Session 2
Remind students that the class has been discussing “Me and My Shadow,” or the good side of people and the bad side—the two wolves, or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Ask students to answer the Questions for Reflection in their student books.
Questions for Reflection
1. What is your “shadow” side like?
2. What is your “bright” side like?
3. How does each side affect your relations with others?
4. Why is it important to be careful what we allow into our minds?
5. What does it mean to put yourself “in the shoes of another”?
6. How can this help us to strengthen our good side?
7. How does selfishness separate us from others?
8. How does this prevent us from experiencing true happiness?
9. Have you ever experienced a deep joy through helping someone? Describe it.
Now ask students to look over the [[#|Exercise]]: “Challenge for the Week” in their student books. Ask them to complete the portion of the exercise to be done in class (writing down five character traits and choosing one to focus on improving, and then writing down plans and ideas for changing this character trait) and to work on changing their “shadow side” into something brighter.
Exercise: “Challenge for the Week”
Write down five character traits that you least like about yourself (for example, disloyalty, laziness, lying, etc.). Choose one of these “shadow” traits to focus on during this week. Make a promise to yourself to watch and deal with this particular aspect of your “shadow.” Write down your ideas and plans for changing this shadow into something bright. Check yourself at the end of the week to see how you did. This is a good way to help you become aware of and change undesirable aspects of your character.
Direct students’ attention to the Reflection Exercise: “Controlling Myself” and explain that you will be checking their answers in one week's time, once they have had time to work on some aspect of their “shadow side.” (Remember to follow up on this!)
Reflection Exercise: “Controlling Myself”
After completing the previous exercise, reflect on the following:
1. Why, if I dislike a certain kind of attitude or behavior in others, do I find it in myself?
2. How successful was I in controlling my undesirable behavior?
3. Why do I find it so difficult to control my own thinking and behavior?
4. What kind of person do I really want to be?
Explain that you are now going to do a short session on how the media influence the shadow side of the self. Do students know that scientists have proven that watching violent movies or TV shows makes children more violent in the way they act with others?
Provide the following information:
The National Institute of Mental Health issued a major report in 1982 that showed that watching violent television shows helps to cause violent behavior in real life.
Dr. Leonard D. Eron, professor of psychology and senior research scientist, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, in 1999 testified before a Senate subcommittee: “Since 1960, a body of evidence coming from both laboratory research and survey studies based on real life experience has confirmed that there is a causative relation between the observation of aggression and violence on television and subsequent aggressive and violent behavior on the part of the observer.”[1]
Dr. Eron noted that between 1957 and 1990, several overall analyses of all the available data showed the same thing. He said that four major professional associations have recommended that television stations lower the level of violence in their programming for the good of society: The American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child Psychiatry and the American Psychological Association. Dr. Eron himself studied young children over a period of ten years: from age eight to age eighteen. Children who had watched more violent programs at age eight ended up being more violent in real life by the time they were eighteen.
Also, children and teenagers who watch violent shows become less sensitive to violence. They can shrug it off more easily—including real-life violence.
Ask students what that might mean if they witnessed someone else becoming violent toward a third person. If the witness doesn't have much of a response to violence, what will the witness do or not do in the situation to save the person who is about to become a victim?
Scientists have also found causal links between listening to music with violent words and playing violent video games to getting into more fights and problems with others, because the person tends to interpret the others' words and actions as being more aggressive than they are.
Explain that all this is to illustrate the point that what we put into our minds affects whether our good and unselfish nature is awakened and fed or whether our bad and selfish nature is awakened and fed.
The inner wolf we feed will be the one that dominates our lives. Ask students which wolf they want to dominate their lives. Which one should they feed?
[1] Leonard D. Eron, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Senior Research Scientist, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, “Effects of Television Violence on Children”, Testimony before the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Regarding Safe Harbor Hours in TV Programming, Senator Ernest Hollings, Chair, May 18, 1999.
Lesson Objectives
Cognitive: Students will recognize that there are two sides to human nature: good and bad. Students will be more aware of the fact that the more they “feed” or encourage the good or the bad side, the stronger it will become. Students will understand the causal relationship between interacting with media that depict violence and real life conflict.
Affective: Students will want to “feed” their better side through cultivating positive thoughts and feelings, doing good deeds, serving others, putting others ahead of the self, and controlling the media influences they allow into their minds.
Behavioral: Students will describe and discuss ways to avoid fanning the flames of conflict and resentment. Students will imagine and describe themselves interacting with the world without their “shadow” side. Students will identify and list “shadow” characteristics they would like to change into something “bright.” Students will chart their progress.
Class Session 1
Ask students if they have ever felt a conflict within themselves. For instance, ask them to imagine seeing an elderly lady struggling to get her groceries into her home. Most people would feel they should help the old lady. At the same time, a lot of thoughts might come into their minds that would stop them from helping her—thoughts like, “Oh, she's nearly finished now,” or “She would probably rather do it herself,” or “That would take too much of my time,” or “I'm tired today—I don't want to strain myself.” Ask students, “When we think those kinds of thoughts, whom are we thinking of?” Affirm that we are thinking of ourselves.
Say that self-centered thinking may lead people to avoid doing a good deed, and it may also lead to justifying misdeeds, such as crimes: “I need this money more than the store owner does, so I'll take it. He'll never miss it” is one example. “She dressed that way, so she wanted me to kiss her” is another example. “He yelled at me, so I had a right to put a scratch on his car.” Point out that such thinking does not take into account the feelings and rights of others. It puts the self at the center of everything.
Mention that this conflict between being self-centered and being considerate of others is a very strong one. Say that it takes place inside each individual, inside each family, community, and nation. It is not easy to act so as to benefit others rather than the self.
Emphasize that when we do act for the benefit of others rather than ourselves, we experience joy, and everything goes better. Point out that it is well worth the sacrifice, although it may not seem so in the moment.
Point out that the chapter emphasizes strengthening our unselfish selves with good thoughts and influences. Ask students to give examples from the chapter about what to do and what not to do to strengthen our unselfish selves.
Mention that “feeding” the selfish or the unselfish side of our natures is shown strongly in the story “Two Wolves—A Native American Story about the Power of Thought.” Ask students to reread this story in their student texts:
Two Wolves--a Native American Story about the Power of Thought
An old grandfather, whose grandson came to him with anger at a schoolmate who had done him an injustice, said, “Let me tell you a story, Grandson. I, too, at times, have felt a great hate for those who have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die of it. I have struggled with these feelings many times.”
He continued, “It is as if there are two wolves inside me. One is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will fight only when it is right to do so, and in the right way.
But the other wolf is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit.”
The boy looked intently into his Grandfather's eyes and asked, “Which one wins, Grandfather?”
The grandfather solemnly replied, “The one I feed.”
Ask students to remember a recent conflict in their lives. Did feeding the “bad wolf” with negative, hate-filled, resentful thoughts keep the conflict going? Does keeping a mental list of all the bad things the other person has done feed the bad wolf or the good wolf? Ask students for suggestions as to how to feed the good wolf when they are in conflict with someone.
Write on the board: “Hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die of it.”
Ask students to discuss and debate this question: “Does hating someone hurt the other person? Does it hurt you more?”
Ask students to reread “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” in their students books. Mention that this is a very imaginative literary representation of what we all feel inside: that we have a good nature and a bad nature—”Me and My Shadow”—and that they are opposed to one another.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Robert Louis Stevenson's famous story Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tells vividly of inner conflict, or as Stevenson puts it: “the perennial war” between the good and evil selves.
Gentle Dr. Jekyll, a doctor, scientist, and humanitarian, struggles with sins he does not name, sometimes indulging himself in them. He begins to notice in himself two different natures, both of which are a strong part of him: “I was no more myself when I laid aside restraint and plunged in shame, than when I labored in the eye of day, at the furtherance of knowledge or the relief of sorrow and suffering.” Both sinner and saint are inside him, part of him. He concludes that “man is not one, but truly two” and devises in his laboratory a potion that at last will separate the evil nature within him from the good. The evil side comes out in the form of a man he names Mr. Hyde.
When Dr. Jekyll first is taken over by Mr. Hyde's personality, he says, “I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; and the thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me like wine.”
Although he inhabits Dr. Jekyll's body, Hyde does not physically resemble the good doctor. Rather, “evil was written broadly and plainly on the face…Evil besides (which I still believe to be the lethal side of man) had left on that body an imprint of deformity and decay.”
“I had now two characters as well as two appearances,” wrote Jekyll. “One was wholly evil…inherently malign and villainous; his every act and thought centered on self; drinking pleasure…from any degree of torture to another; relentless like a man of stone.” Hyde is all the evil concentrated in Dr. Jekyll's soul expressed fully for the first time.
Dr. Jekyll labors by day to make scientific discoveries that will help humanity; he treats patients; he even works to undo any evil Hyde has done in the night. His goodness and service to others comfort him, but he begins to notice something. The more he is let out to do whatever he wants, the more powerful Hyde is becoming inside him. He begins “to spy a danger that, if this were much prolonged, the balance of my nature might be permanently overthrown…and the character of Edward Hyde become irrevocably mine. Where in the beginning, the difficulty had been to throw off the body of Jekyll, it had of late gradually but decidedly transferred itself to the other side. All things therefore seemed to point to this: that I was slowly losing hold of my original and better self and becoming slowly incorporated with my second and worse.”
Jekyll decides to take the potion no more, and he enjoys a period of peace and joy with his conscience approving of him once again. But after a time, “I began to be tortured with throes and longings, as Hyde struggled after freedom.” At last, in a moment of weakness, he gives in and drinks the potion again. Hyde is none the weaker for being kept inside so long. “My devil had long been caged, he came out roaring.”
This time Hyde commits a brutal murder. Jekyll is firmer in his resolve never to take the potion again. However, he does indulge himself in some sinning, similar to what he had done before he began drinking the potion. Now this alone is enough to transform him into Hyde. At last, knowing that murderous Hyde, his most evil self, has won the battle and is now the stronger of the two, Jekyll commits suicide to end Hyde's crimes.
Now ask the students to imagine that they have Dr. Jekyll's potion, only that it has the power to bring out their good side alone. Ask them to think about how they would act, addressing real situations of conflict in their lives, once they have drunk this “good nature” potion. Encourage them to try to act that way.
Class Session 2
Remind students that the class has been discussing “Me and My Shadow,” or the good side of people and the bad side—the two wolves, or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Ask students to answer the Questions for Reflection in their student books.
Questions for Reflection
1. What is your “shadow” side like?
2. What is your “bright” side like?
3. How does each side affect your relations with others?
4. Why is it important to be careful what we allow into our minds?
5. What does it mean to put yourself “in the shoes of another”?
6. How can this help us to strengthen our good side?
7. How does selfishness separate us from others?
8. How does this prevent us from experiencing true happiness?
9. Have you ever experienced a deep joy through helping someone? Describe it.
Now ask students to look over the [[#|Exercise]]: “Challenge for the Week” in their student books. Ask them to complete the portion of the exercise to be done in class (writing down five character traits and choosing one to focus on improving, and then writing down plans and ideas for changing this character trait) and to work on changing their “shadow side” into something brighter.
Exercise: “Challenge for the Week”
Write down five character traits that you least like about yourself (for example, disloyalty, laziness, lying, etc.). Choose one of these “shadow” traits to focus on during this week. Make a promise to yourself to watch and deal with this particular aspect of your “shadow.” Write down your ideas and plans for changing this shadow into something bright. Check yourself at the end of the week to see how you did. This is a good way to help you become aware of and change undesirable aspects of your character.
Direct students’ attention to the Reflection Exercise: “Controlling Myself” and explain that you will be checking their answers in one week's time, once they have had time to work on some aspect of their “shadow side.” (Remember to follow up on this!)
Reflection Exercise: “Controlling Myself”
After completing the previous exercise, reflect on the following:
1. Why, if I dislike a certain kind of attitude or behavior in others, do I find it in myself?
2. How successful was I in controlling my undesirable behavior?
3. Why do I find it so difficult to control my own thinking and behavior?
4. What kind of person do I really want to be?
Explain that you are now going to do a short session on how the media influence the shadow side of the self. Do students know that scientists have proven that watching violent movies or TV shows makes children more violent in the way they act with others?
Provide the following information:
The National Institute of Mental Health issued a major report in 1982 that showed that watching violent television shows helps to cause violent behavior in real life.
Dr. Leonard D. Eron, professor of psychology and senior research scientist, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, in 1999 testified before a Senate subcommittee: “Since 1960, a body of evidence coming from both laboratory research and survey studies based on real life experience has confirmed that there is a causative relation between the observation of aggression and violence on television and subsequent aggressive and violent behavior on the part of the observer.”[1]
Dr. Eron noted that between 1957 and 1990, several overall analyses of all the available data showed the same thing. He said that four major professional associations have recommended that television stations lower the level of violence in their programming for the good of society: The American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child Psychiatry and the American Psychological Association. Dr. Eron himself studied young children over a period of ten years: from age eight to age eighteen. Children who had watched more violent programs at age eight ended up being more violent in real life by the time they were eighteen.
Also, children and teenagers who watch violent shows become less sensitive to violence. They can shrug it off more easily—including real-life violence.
Ask students what that might mean if they witnessed someone else becoming violent toward a third person. If the witness doesn't have much of a response to violence, what will the witness do or not do in the situation to save the person who is about to become a victim?
Scientists have also found causal links between listening to music with violent words and playing violent video games to getting into more fights and problems with others, because the person tends to interpret the others' words and actions as being more aggressive than they are.
Explain that all this is to illustrate the point that what we put into our minds affects whether our good and unselfish nature is awakened and fed or whether our bad and selfish nature is awakened and fed.
The inner wolf we feed will be the one that dominates our lives. Ask students which wolf they want to dominate their lives. Which one should they feed?
[1] Leonard D. Eron, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Senior Research Scientist, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, “Effects of Television Violence on Children”, Testimony before the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Regarding Safe Harbor Hours in TV Programming, Senator Ernest Hollings, Chair, May 18, 1999.